Global strategy of LG Electronics as a leading Korean company
Tomikazu Hiraga Senior research Fellow NLI Research Institute Economic recovery in advanced countries including Japan is still sluggish, although corporate financial performance has been recovering gradually. And companies whose business activities in emerging countries experiencing an economic boom account for a larger proportion tend to show better financial performance. Leading Korean companies have a larger presence in the world market and attract considerable attention. I will focus on LG Electronics, Inc., a leading company ranking with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the world’s electrical and electronics industries, with the largest market share in home appliances markets in important emerging countries, such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia, and relatively advanced management methods including corporate governance, which are highly valued, and will discuss features or important points of its global management and personnel strategy in this article. (Reference: Exchange rates as of August 5, 2010 were as follows. The Japanese yen/Korean won foreign exchange rate was approximately ¥0.074 to the Korean won. The Japanese yen/Indian rupee rate was approximately ¥1.87 to the Indian rupee. ) Leading Korean zaibatsu—The LG group The Korean zaibatsu (chaebol), a unique large companies group, is very influential in Korea’s corporate sector. Top 28 companies by market capitalization other than public corporations account for 58 percent in the aggregate market value (Korea Composite Stock Price Index: KOSPI) at the end of 2009 and most of those companies belong to zaibatsu company groups. Striking features of the zaibatsu are as follows: 1. Many zaibatu started as a family company. 2. Zaibatsu leaders and their relatives and affiliated companies are major shareholders. 3. Share holding relationships are